Security footage shows the horrifying moment the 'Fort Lauderdale killer' pulled out a handgun and started firing inside the airport's baggage claim

• Surveillance footage from inside the terminal shows Esteban Santiago open fire • The horrifying video starts as the 26-year-old appears to be walking calmly away • He then reaches into his waistband and pulls out the handgun and starts firing • The Iraq War veteran killed five people and wounded six others in the massacre

By Liam Quinn | Dailymail.com | Updated: 13:53 EST, 8 January 2017

This is the moment the Fort Lauderdale killer pulled out his handgun and started firing at innocent passengers.

Esteban Santiago, 26, shot dead five people and wounded six more when he opened fire inside the baggage claim at Terminal 2 of the Florida airport on Friday afternoon.

Shocking surveillance footage, first obtained by TMZ, shows the Iraq war veteran calmly walk into shot before pulling the pistol from his waistband.

He then begins firing, appearing to be aiming initially at a man in front of him.

Santiago then runs out of the frame as people desperately take shelter.

The 26-year-old could face the death penalty after being accused of an act of violence at an international airport resulting in death, and weapons charges.

Santiago flew into the airport from Anchorage, Alaska - with a layover in Minneapolis-St Paul - on Delta flight 2182 with a firearm as his only piece of checked luggage, in accordance with TSA regulations, authorities believe.

The 26-year-old, who was dressed in a Star Wars T-shirt, claimed his bag, went to the bathroom to load his handgun and then started shooting people dead, according to the county commissioner.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Iraq war veteran held in the fatal shooting of five people inside Fort Lauderdale's airport was appointed a federal public defender on Monday after telling a judge that he has no job and only $5 or $10 in the bank.

Esteban Santiago, 26, spoke clearly during a brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle, who ordered him held until his next hearings.

Shackled in a red jumpsuit in the heavily guarded federal courtroom, Santiago answered mostly yes or no to questions, and told the judge he understands the charges, which include committing violence against people at an international airport resulting in death, and two firearms offenses.

She told him the death penalty could apply.

"We are telling you the maximum penalty allowed by law so that you understand the seriousness of the charges," the judge said.

He said he had been in the Army, where he made about $15,000 a year. He mentioned expenses including $560 in monthly rent, plus phone and other utility bills. He said he owns no property and doesn't have a vehicle. He said he had worked for a security company, Signal 88, in Anchorage, Alaska, until November, making $2,100 a month, but currently only had $5 to $10 in the bank.

Given his finances, the judge decided he's eligible for government lawyers at taxpayer expense.

Valle set a detention hearing for Jan. 17, followed by an arraignment for entering a plea for Jan. 23.

More than a dozen officers kept watch outside the courthouse, carrying rifles and wearing bulletproof vests. There were also mounted police and K-9 units.

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) — Esteban Santiago provided a Florida driver’s license when he applied for a gun permit in Puerto Rico, according to court records obtained by the Sun Sentinel.

So did the 26-year-old accused airport gunman ever live in Florida?

Official records show he didn’t.

It raises questions about federal laws and procedures concerning identity and combating terrorism.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shows Santiago obtained the ID in August 2012 and it expires in 2021. Two months later he applied for the weapons permit in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.

Even more odd, the ID lists his “prior state and driver license number” as “foreign country.”

Obtaining Florida ID’s require several forms of documentation to prove residence, including a birth certificate or passport, Social Security card and two items mailed to their Florida address, like utility bills.

Esteban Santiago told authorities that he bought a one-way ticket to Ft. Lauderdale and planned out the attack.

The Iraq war veteran charged with killing five people and injuring six others in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale's international airport pleaded not guilty to the allegations against him on Monday.

Esteban Santiago, 26, leaned over the wooden lectern in court and appeared to read along as U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer read the entire 17-page indictment aloud to him - including the names of the five people killed in the mass shooting.

Santiago replied "yes" after each of the 22 charges when Seltzer asked if he understood them.

Santiago appeared calm and spoke in the same monotone he has used in all of the prior hearings. He was handcuffed to a chain around his waist, shackled and wore a red jumpsuit with the words "Max Custody Inmate" in black letters on the back.

One of his lawyers then told the judge that Santiago was pleading not guilty to all of the charges.

If convicted of the most serious counts, he faces life in federal prison or the possibility of the death penalty.

He is charged with five counts of causing death at an international airport, six counts of causing serious bodily injury at an international airport, five counts of causing death during a crime of violence and six counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence.

The judge overseeing the case against the man accused of the fatal mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport expressed serious concerns about his mental health on Thursday. [...]Prosecutor Lawrence LaVecchio told the judge that when Santiago was interviewed by agents in the hours after the shootings, he appeared to understand what he had done, answered questions in a "cogent and responsive" way and detailed his activities that led to the shootings.

After initially claiming to have been "programmed" to commit the offense, LaVecchio said Santiago "later recanted that" and said he had planned the shooting. Agents previously testified that Santiago said he had gone into "jihadi" chat rooms online and was influenced by Islamic State terrorists. But prosecutors have not filed any terrorism-related charges after examine his computers and phones.

Santiago, who wore beige jail scrubs and was handcuffed and shackled in court, answered the judge's questions with a series of "yes" and "no" answers. He said he understood what was going on in his case and had no objection to the delay.

The defense lawyers told the judge they have not yet received Santiago's medical records from the Broward County Main Jail, where he was initially held, or the federal detention center in downtown Miami.

They said it is the recommended practice in potential federal death penalty cases for defense lawyers to wait to request a legal competency or mental health evaluation until after they have completed much of their investigation about the person's background and any possible evidence that might help to persuade prosecutors not to seek the death penalty.

The judge said she could independently request a competency evaluation, given her concerns. But she agreed to wait for at least 30 days to let the defense get all of Santiago's mental health records and after the lawyer assured her that they think he is legally competent at this stage.

The judge said agreed to wait at least until Santiago's next court appearance, which she scheduled for March 15.

Airport mass shooting suspect Esteban Santiago is being treated for two severe mental health conditions that can cause people to lose touch with reality, but he remains legally competent to stand trial, court records show.

Two teams of doctors at different jails have diagnosed Santiago with two psychotic illnesses: schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, according to his defense attorneys. Both conditions, when not treated correctly, can result in hallucinations and delusions, mania, depression and other symptoms.

Santiago, who turns 27 on Thursday, refused to take medication for a short time after his arrest Jan. 6, but he has been taking a prescription medication, Haldol, for the past month, his lawyers wrote in recently filed court records.

“As [he] is now committed to adhering to the medication regimen prescribed for him … his mental stability is unlikely to change before trial,” Assistant Federal Public Defender Eric Cohen wrote in a status report for the judge.[...]Santiago’s trial is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 2 in federal court in Miami.

Not much gonna happen on this one for a while. Will put on the back burner for the time being.

Death penalty decision in airport shooting case could take year or moreBy Paula McMahon | Sun-Sentinel | March 15, 2017

It could take a year or more before prosecutors decide whether to seek the federal death penalty for the man accused of killing five people and injuring six others at Fort Lauderdale's international airport.

During a brief court hearing for Esteban Santiago on Wednesday, prosecutors said that the Washington, D.C.-based panel that advises the attorney general on capital cases wants detailed reports from the defense and prosecutors before making any decision.

In less complicated cases involving a single death and no mental health challenges, that process can take the defense eight months, Santiago's attorneys told the judge. But they said a year would be a more realistic estimate in such a complicated case, involving multiple deaths, serious mental illness and witnesses who live in several different states.

Esteban Santiago, accused of killing five people and wounding six others at Fort Lauderdale’s airport, has been scheduled for trial Jan. 22.

U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom set the trial date Friday in federal court in Miami. Santiago, 27, has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges linked to the Jan. 6 shooting at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

His defense attorneys told the judge there has been no change in his mental health since the last court hearing and that he is still competent to face trial. He is taking Haldol, an antipsychotic prescription drug, they said.

Bloom has been closely monitoring the case because Santiago has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and refused to take medication at times soon after his arrest.

Federal prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek the death penalty or life in prison.

That decision process is expected to take several months. The prosecution and defense must compile extensive paperwork before presenting the reasons why execution may or may not be the appropriate penalty to a committee in the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. The final decision lies with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Both sides said they are still painstakingly going through an enormous amount of evidence in the case.

The man accused of killing five people and wounding six in a mass shooting earlier this year at Fort Lauderdale’s international airport has resumed taking anti-psychotic medication for schizophrenia and remains mentally competent to stand trial, his attorneys told a judge on Friday.

Esteban Santiago, 27, stopped taking the drug Haldol in September because he was experiencing painful side effects, his defense team said.

Officials at the U.S. Justice Department have not yet decided if they will seek the death penalty for Santiago.

The defense has a Nov. 22 deadline to submit a package of evidence and arguments to try to persuade prosecutors not to seek the death penalty. The filing is expected to include details about Santiago’s history of mental illness, his military service in Iraq and other aspects of his life.[...]His trial is currently scheduled for Jan. 22 in federal court in Miami, but it could be delayed.

A military veteran charged with fatally shooting five people and wounding six others at the Fort Lauderdale airport last year will plead guilty in exchange for receiving a life sentence under an agreement disclosed Tuesday in Miami federal court.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys said they reached the plea agreement after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions weighed in on the death penalty question in the murder case of 28-year-old Esteban Santiago. Sessions, who had final say, received input from both sides in South Florida as well as a panel of experts at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.

Prosecutors said Sessions signed off on the plea agreement, which was proposed by Santiago's defense attorneys as a deadline loomed this week on the death penalty issue. They also said the shooting victims' family members were also on board with the proposed life sentence.

MIAMI (AP) — An Alaska man pleaded guilty Wednesday in exchange for a life prison sentence in the Florida airport shooting that killed five people and wounded six.

Esteban Santiago, 28, pleaded guilty to 11 charges stemming from the January 2017 attack. Santiago, of Anchorage, Alaska, admitted he opened fire with a handgun in a baggage area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The plea deal was struck after prosecutors announced they would not seek the death penalty. Instead, Santiago agreed to a life prison sentence plus 120 years. The sentence will be officially imposed by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom on Aug. 17 to give victims and families a chance to give statements at a hearing.[...]An Iraq war veteran, Santiago has been treated for schizophrenia but was found competent to understand legal proceedings. A psychologist testified Wednesday that Santiago’s mental state has shown great improvement since he was first arrested.

“Certainly this is the best I’ve ever seen him,” psychologist Heather Holmes testified. “This is the clearest he’s ever been.”

Judge Bloom asked Santiago why he did what he did. Santiago initially told the FBI he thought he was under some form of government mind control.

“Um, I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking about it at the moment. A lot of things were going on in my mind. Messages,” he replied.

Airport shooter Esteban Santiago sentenced to five life terms and 120 years in prison By Paula McMahon | Sun-Sentinel | August 17, 2018

Esteban Santiago was mentally ill — but legally sane — when he pulled out a gun, killed five people and injured six others in January 2017 at Fort Lauderdale’s main airport.

He immediately told agents that voices in his head were giving him orders. He later made unsubstantiated claims that he had acted in support of the Islamic State terrorist group.

On Friday, his attorneys said Santiago — who has since been diagnosed with schizophrenia — was experiencing psychotic symptoms and thought he was being commanded to do what he did. Now that he’s been stabilized with the right medication, he is genuinely remorseful, they said.

But the man described as a “good soldier” when he served in the Iraq War will spend the rest of his life in federal prison for carrying out the deadliest airport shooting in U.S. history. Santiago, 28, was sentenced Friday to five life sentences plus 120 years for his crimes.

His rampage at the airport was “85 seconds of evil,” U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom told Santiago. “It is difficult, if not impossible, for this court to separate the evil in your acts from the evil in the man.”

Friday’s sentencing was the last chapter in a saga that began 19 months ago when Santiago landed in Fort Lauderdale on a one-way flight from Anchorage, Alaska. He had checked nothing but his 9 mm gun and two sets of ammunition. He picked up the weapon from a Delta Air Lines employee, loaded the gun in a restroom and began firing at the people near the baggage carousels. When he ran out of ammunition, he paused and reloaded, then fired all of the rounds in the second magazine at his victims.